NEW CANAAN, CT – April 14, 2021 – The physician medical group M&A market soared in the first quarter of 2021, with 112 publicly announced transactions, compared with 60 acquisitions in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to data from HealthCareMandA.com. Compared with the first quarter of 2020, activity increased by 138%, making it the most robust quarter for M&A in the physician medical group sector ever, based on data from Irving Levin’s Healthcare Deals Database.
Few transactions in this sector disclose prices, but disclosed dollar volume declined by 74% to $489.2 million, compared with the $1.9 billion disclosed in the fourth quarter. The largest deal by disclosed price was WELL Health Technologies Corp.’s acquisition of CRH Medical Corporation for $369.2 million. CRH Medical Corporation provides physicians with innovative services and products for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases.
Private equity firms and their portfolio companies continue to be the driving force behind much of the sector’s M&A activity, accounting for 67% of the deals announced in the first quarter. However, there were also a myriad of other buyers, such as managed care companies and hospital systems, that announced strategic acquisitions to expand their networks.
“After a difficult year for physicians, many are looking to partner with a larger physician network or health system for more stability,” commented Dylan Sammut, Editor of Healthcare at Irving Levin Associates, which tracks the data. “We expect this surge of deal announcements to continue throughout the year.”
All quarterly results are published in The Health Care M&A Report for all 13 sectors of health care, which is part of the HealthCareMandA.com investment research source. For information, or to order the report, call 800-248-1668. Irving Levin Associates is celebrating more than 70 years of delivering exclusive M&A intelligence to its sophisticated audience of seniors housing and healthcare investors. The company was established in 1948 and has headquarters in New Canaan, Connecticut. The company publishes research reports and newsletters and maintains databases on the healthcare and seniors housing M&A markets.
